Local timber would have been cut for sale as pit props for coal mines in the Sydney area. Surrounding Malcolm’s family on similar small farms of 50 or 100 acres would have been many other MacKinnons and MacNeils, all of Roman Catholic faith and all descended from the emigrants of Barra. Gaelic was the language of the household, English of the local school.

Brian Tennyson, emeritus professor of history at Cape Breton University, said that despite being at least third-generation Canadian, Malcolm would still have felt a strong sense of duty to the crown, which may have been the key to why he joined up. But he would also have seen it as an adventure and a relief from the drudgery of his daily chores and the insularity of his life. At the time of his enlistment, few believed the war would last much longer and had little conception of the terrors the Western Front held.

The most thrilling moment of my brief flurry of research came when, on a website commemorating the war dead of Cape Breton’s Victoria County, I actually saw Malcolm’s face. The picture is grainy but the features unmistakeably Celtic, with a pale complexion, strong chin and jawline, and a tough, defiant stare. 

I’m glad to have discovered something of Malcolm’s story and will certainly look for his name on the rolls next time I’m near Vimy. Who knows, I might even make it to the Bras d’Or lakes some day to see what so excited Og MacKinnon 250 years ago.

The empire is more or less over but the blood ties forged between Britain and the Commonwealth nations in the Great War live on. And whatever bitterness there may have been about the conduct of the war, 21 years later, when Britain stood alone against the Nazi terror, those same nations rallied again to the cause.

Today we have new alliances in Europe but they are built mainly on considerations of trade and security rather than lasting friendship. We share much of our DNA with the French and Germans but historically they have been our enemies at least as often as our comrades in arms. And it’s hard to think of anything we really have in common with Estonia, Romania and Bulgaria, engaging and hardworking as the people of those countries may be.

So even if in the forthcoming referendum Britain votes to remain in the EU, we should never forget those who have been our oldest and most constant friends. If my back is ever truly against the wall and I can choose who to stand with me, give me a Canadian, an Anzac or a Gurkha over a Luxembourger any day.